Thursday, 16 February 2012

Thursday Thought: Without Music, Life Would Be a Mistake

I spotted this t-shirt at the Manchester Town Hall at the Manchester Bloggers Meet Up back in November last year and it got me thinking. What would life be without music? Personally, I can't imagine it, yet I know quite a few people who have no connection with music at all.

For me, music is an expression of one's personality and in some ways documents a person's experiences and life. Which is one of the main reasons why I don't like to criticize or pass judgement on someone else's taste as it's personal to them. I think the same applies to someone's fashion. Yeah, they may have more colour on them than a packet of starburst or choose to wear their faux fur coat and leather trousers to Tesco, but that's their choice, their personality and who they are. Just like fashion, if everyone in the world listened to the same music, life would be pretty boring, no?

I rarely leave the house without my Ipod and my train journeys to London would be 10x more horrific without it. The good thing about music is because there are so many different artists and genres out there - there's something for every mood. I think I even have a playlist dedicated to 'happy/pick-me-up' songs for when I'm feeling gloomy. On the other side of the coin, I also have a playlist of songs for when I'm, lets say, wound up.

My favourite songs are the ones where I can apply the lyrics to my life (some may call this sad!) but words have a powerful impact. Artists like Coldplay, Snow Patrol and The Fray write some beautiful songs, my favourites being Run, Fix You, The Scientist, Never Say Never, You Found Me and How to Save a Life. Whilst I love 'care-free' melody-rich songs, these six songs have a rich lyrical meaning and I feel I can relate to them.

Certain songs reminded me of certain moments, places and emotions - some of which are happy and some of which make me cry. But is having this much of a connection to music the same for everybody? Not always. I know people who don't really like music at all. They don't have a 'favourite band' or 'favourite song' and it's not something that they get any enjoyment out of, which for me feels alien. But what about you guys - does music play an important part in your life? Or could you quite happily live without it?